For a little over eight months, the ominous signs of a decline in Irish rugby have been surfacing intermittently. The defeat at home to Wales last Saturday afternoon simply confirmed everyone's worst fears.

The golden generation of Irish rugby has come and gone and there is no silverware to show for it. Save for a sprinkling of Triple Crowns over the past five seasons, the best collection of players to ever grace this county have underachieved as a whole. Theories and rumours aside, a sizeable proportion of blame is being laid at the feet of Ireland's coach Eddie O'Sullivan. The time has come for the Corkman to step aside and allow someone else to bring this team forward.

During the demoralising defeat in Croke Park last weekend, this side's fortunes hit a new low. The negative and containment tactics employed from the kick-off were an insult to the talents at Ireland's disposal. For the best pat of the opening hour, the home side were content to attack the opposition around the fringes of rucks. At no stage were Ireland prepared to spread the ball wide or use their strike runners in midfield. The blinding talents of David Wallace, Jamie Heaslip, Brian O'Driscoll and Tommy Bowe were largely ignored in favour of a game plan which stifled any sense of individual creativity. Ireland have come full circle and now appear to have returned to the mindless forward-orientated unit that graced the mid-to-late nineties.

This weekend, the RBS Six Nations concludes with a triple header on Saturday. First up in the early afternoon, Italy and Scotland go head-to-head in the battle for the Wooden Spoon. Later that evening Wales entertain France at home for the Championship decider and sandwiched in-between is the largely meaningless clash between England and Ireland at Twickenham. The game in Cardiff promises to be an enthralling encounter. Wales, under the close guidance of new coach Warren Gatland, appear to have rediscovered the form which led them to the Grand Slam back in 2005. Confidence is rife throughout the squad following the victory in Dublin last weekend and Gatland seems destined to lead the side to yet another Grand Slam after barely four months in charge.

Going on current form the game at Twickenham promises to be a dour, lifeless affair. Two sides with an inherent fear of defeat will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. If the respective coaches remain true to form, then expect to see eighty minutes of rucks and mauls, supplemented with a barrage of line-outs and scrums. The style and manner of performance no longer appears important as both coaches fight desperately to save their respective positions. Ireland were the form team of the 2007 Six Nations playing an exciting brand of free-flowing creative rugby. However, a series of subsequent implosions within the set-up means that twelve months on the same group of players are now just eighty minutes away from finishing second-last in this season's Championship.

England's demise has been no less spectacular. Narrow losers to South Africa in last October's World Cup Final, the side now seem rudderless and disinterested. Last weekend's defeat to Scotland was arguably the worst game of rugby in this competition for well over a decade. Not only were the tactics employed naive, but the talent and performance levels (or lack thereof) were astounding. Again the over reliance on one-dimensional forward play highlighted the severe lack of progressive thinking on behalf of the coaching staff.

This weekend's fixture will almost certainly be decided by the boots of the respective out-halves. Ronan O'Gara has been sublime from the kicking tee all season and he will relish the opportunity to renew his rivalry with England's Danny Cipriani. Both players have been in superb form over the last six months and the winner of this personal duel may go a long way to deciding the overall outcome.

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment